8 Fresha Alternatives for Salons and Spas

People look for Fresha alternatives because Fresha charges a monthly subscription, a one-time fee on new marketplace clients and extra for messages and add-ons. The best three: Timely for salons that want no new-client fees, Square Appointments for solo pros in supported countries, and startbuddi for African salons that take Paystack deposits.

startbuddi is our product. We’ve included it where it fits and listed its limits as plainly as everyone else’s.

Key takeaways

• Fresha has no free plan, only a 7-day trial, and charges per bookable team member on its Team plan.
• If you rely on Fresha’s marketplace for new clients, only Vagaro and Booksy offer something similar. Everything else expects you to bring your own clients.
• Free plans exist (Square Appointments, SimplyBook.me, Setmore and startbuddi), but each limits staff, bookings or features.
• Check how card payments are charged, not just the monthly price. Each tool’s pricing page lists its own rates.
• Export your Fresha client list before you cancel. Card details can’t be exported, so plan to ask clients for deposits again.

Why salons and spas look for a Fresha alternative

Fresha is booking and business software for salons, spas and wellness businesses, with a public marketplace where clients find and book them. It’s well liked for that marketplace and for its apps. The reasons owners move are mostly about cost and fit, and you can check all of them on Fresha’s pricing page (checked on 1 October 2026):

• There’s no free plan. Fresha offers a 7-day trial, then a monthly subscription. When we checked, the page showed prices in naira: NGN 6,800 a month for the Independent plan and NGN 4,500 per team member a month for the Team plan. Prices vary by country.
• A fee on new marketplace clients. The page says a one-time fee applies to brand-new clients who discover you through the Fresha marketplace. No fee applies to returning clients.
• Messages and emails are metered. Each plan or team member includes 20 WhatsApp or SMS messages and 50 marketing emails a month, then you pay per message.
• Add-ons cost extra. Client loyalty, Google rating boost, a smart website and Xero accounting are priced separately, per location.

None of these is a reason to leave on its own. But a salon with eight stylists pays for eight team members, and a salon that gets most clients from Instagram and WhatsApp is paying for a marketplace it doesn’t use.

Fresha alternatives compared

Prices are the starting prices shown on each vendor’s own pricing page on 1 October 2026, in the currency the page showed. They change, so check before you sign up.

Tool	Best for	Starting price	Free plan	Standout feature
Vagaro	US salons and spas that want a marketplace	$30 a month for one calendar ($23.99 for the first 6 months)	No (30-day trial)	Free marketplace listing
Booksy	Barbers and solo beauty pros	$29.99 a month plus tax	No (14-day trial)	Client app and Boost marketplace
Timely	Hair and beauty salons wanting no new-client fees	$26 per staff member a month	No (free trial)	Consultation forms and stock tools
GlossGenius	US independent stylists	$28 a month ($24 billed yearly)	No (14-day trial)	Booking site and card payments in one app
Square Appointments	Solo pros in Square’s countries	$0 (Free plan)	Yes	Free plan with card payments
startbuddi	Salons in Nigeria and Africa that want bookings, clients and payments together	Free plan; paid plans on pricing	Yes	Paystack deposits plus a customer inbox
SimplyBook.me	Spas and clinics with simple needs	€0 (Free); Basic €11.90 a month billed yearly	Yes (50 bookings a month)	No transaction fees
Setmore	Small teams wanting a free start	$0 for up to 4 users	Yes	Free plan for 4 users

How we chose these Fresha alternatives

We looked for tools that a salon, spa, barber or nail studio could run its day on: online booking, staff calendars, reminders, deposits or prepayment, and a client record. Then we checked each vendor’s own pricing page on 1 October 2026 and noted the free plan, the trial, and any commission or marketplace fees. We didn’t test the tools hands-on, and we haven’t included reviews or ratings. Where something wasn’t on the vendor’s page, we left it out.

1. Vagaro

Vagaro is salon, spa and fitness software with a consumer marketplace, much like Fresha’s.

Best for: US salons and spas that want marketplace bookings and a single price for a growing team.

Key features: online booking, calendar and resource management, a free listing on the Vagaro Marketplace, business and client apps, and 1,000 free emails a month.

Pricing: On Vagaro’s US pricing page (checked on 1 October 2026), one calendar costs $30 a month, shown as $23.99 a month for the first six months. Each extra bookable calendar costs $10, up to seven; after seven, extra employees cost nothing more. Add-ons are priced separately.

Pros:

• A free listing on the Vagaro Marketplace.
• Price stops rising after seven calendars, which suits bigger teams.
• A 30-day trial and no cancellation fees.

Cons:

• No free plan.
• Many features are paid add-ons, so the real monthly cost is higher than the headline.
• The pricing we checked is for the US.

Skip it if: you’re outside Vagaro’s main markets or don’t want marketplace clients.

2. Booksy

Booksy is a booking app for barbers and beauty professionals, with a client app where people find and book you.

Best for: barbers, braiders and solo beauty pros who want clients to book from an app they already use.

Key features: one plan with all features and unlimited bookings, deposits and cancellation fees, reminders, text and email marketing, and Boost, its marketplace promotion.

Pricing: Booksy’s pricing page (checked on 1 October 2026) shows $29.99 a month plus tax, $20 a month for each extra team member, and a 14-day trial. Boost has no monthly fee but takes a one-time 30% of a Boost client’s first visit, up to $100. Card payments, including through Booksy’s card reader, are charged separately; see the same page for current rates.

Pros:

• Simple: one plan, everything included.
• Strong client app for discovery.
• Boost costs nothing unless it brings you a new client.

Cons:

• No free plan.
• The per-staff fee adds up for larger salons.
• Boost’s 30% on a first visit is higher than many owners expect.

Skip it if: you run a large spa with rooms and equipment to schedule, or you get all your clients from your own channels.

3. Timely

Timely is salon software for hair and beauty businesses, with booking, payments, stock and marketing tools.

Best for: hair and beauty salons that want a polished system without new-client fees.

Key features: online booking from Instagram, Facebook and a mini website; SMS and email reminders; deposits and card-on-file cancellation fees; stock management; and digital consultation forms from the Elevate plan.

Pricing: Timely’s pricing page (checked on 1 October 2026) shows Build at $26, Elevate at $39 and Innovate at $47 per staff member a month, billed monthly, each with a set number of SMS included and “no new client fees”. You can try each plan for free.

Pros:

• No new-client fees on any plan.
• Consultation forms, before-and-after photos and stock tools built for salons.
• Xero and QuickBooks integrations on every plan.

Cons:

• No free plan.
• Per-staff pricing gets expensive with a big team.
• Consultation forms sent before appointments need Elevate or above.

Skip it if: you’re a solo stylist on a tight budget, or you want a marketplace.

4. GlossGenius

GlossGenius is booking and payments software for beauty and wellness pros, with separate plans for med spas.

Best for: independent stylists, lash artists and nail techs in the US.

Key features: booking website, payments, marketing, and on higher plans, Google booking, waitlists and team analytics.

Pricing: GlossGenius’s pricing page (checked on 1 October 2026) shows Standard at $28 a month ($24 billed yearly), Gold at $56 for up to nine staff and Platinum at $168 for ten or more. Card payments are built in, with rates on the same page, and there’s a 14-day trial with no card needed.

Pros:

• Tap to pay and card on file built in.
• Clean booking pages that suit solo artists.
• Clear tiers by team size.

Cons:

• No free plan.
• Prices are in US dollars; check it’s available where you work.
• Larger teams jump straight to the top beauty plan.

Skip it if: you’re outside the US or run a spa with rooms and resources to book.

5. Square Appointments

Square Appointments is the booking product from Square, the payments company.

Best for: solo pros and small salons in countries where Square operates who want a genuinely free plan.

Key features: an online booking site, reminders and unlimited staff calendars on the Free plan; cancellation policies, no-show fees, multi-staff bookings and a waitlist on Plus; resource management on Premium.

Pricing: Square’s appointments pricing page (checked on 1 October 2026) shows Free at $0, Plus at $49 and Premium at $149 per location a month. Card payments go through Square, at the rates on Square’s fees page.

Pros:

• A real free plan, with payments built in.
• Works with Square’s card readers and point of sale.
• Easy to grow into if you already use Square.

Cons:

• Square only serves sellers in a short list of countries, and Nigeria isn’t one of them.
• No-show fees and cancellation policies need Plus.
• Payments have to go through Square.

Skip it if: you’re in Nigeria, Ghana or Kenya, or you don’t want to process cards through Square. Our startbuddi vs Square Appointments comparison goes into more detail.

6. startbuddi

startbuddi is an all-in-one workspace for service businesses. Its Bookings module handles services, staff and deposits, and the rest of the app holds your clients, messages, invoices and marketing.

Best for: salons, spas and barbers in Nigeria and across Africa that take deposits through Paystack and talk to clients on WhatsApp and Instagram.

Key features:

• Services with a price, duration and staff, plus “Require payment to book” for a full payment or a deposit.
• Clients pay by card through Stripe, or by card, bank transfer, USSD or mobile money through Paystack. The slot is held while they pay.
• Reminder emails at the time you choose, and a follow-up email when someone misses their slot.
• Team scheduling with round robin, each stylist’s hours and a personal booking page per stylist.
• Every booking creates or updates a client record in Customers, and WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger messages land in one Inbox.
• Automations can send WhatsApp or SMS messages after a booking, once you have a WhatsApp template approved by Meta.

Pricing: A free plan is available, with one live service. See pricing for paid plans. Automations, WhatsApp and SMS are on paid plans.

Pros:

• Bookings, client records, inbox, invoices and payments in one account.
• Paystack payment options that suit Nigerian clients, in naira.
• No marketplace, so no fee on new clients.

Cons:

• No marketplace: you bring your own clients.
• No card terminal or till, and no stock management for retail products.
• Managing bookings is a desktop job: on a phone you get the overview and your booking links only.
• Calendar sync pushes bookings to Google Calendar but doesn’t read your busy times.

Skip it if: you need a front-desk till and card reader, or most of your new clients come from a marketplace. Read more about startbuddi Bookings.

7. SimplyBook.me

SimplyBook.me is general booking software used by spas, clinics, tutors and many other service businesses.

Best for: spas, massage therapists and clinics that want a cheap, flexible booking system.

Key features: booking pages, payments and deposits from the Basic plan, and a long list of optional “custom features”.

Pricing: SimplyBook.me’s pricing page (checked on 1 October 2026) shows a Free plan with 50 bookings a month and one provider. Basic is €11.90 a month billed yearly (€13.90 monthly) for 100 bookings and five providers. It says it charges no extra transaction fees on bookings or payments.

Pros:

• A free plan with no time limit.
• No transaction fees from SimplyBook.me itself.
• Very configurable.

Cons:

• Booking caps on every plan; a busy salon outgrows Basic quickly.
• Not built specifically for salons.
• The number of options can take time to set up.

Skip it if: you take more than a few hundred bookings a month and want salon tools out of the box.

8. Setmore

Setmore is a simple appointment scheduler with a generous free plan.

Best for: small salons and barbers that want to stop taking bookings by phone without paying yet.

Key features: a booking page and website button, payments, and apps for phones and computers.

Pricing: Setmore’s pricing page (checked on 1 October 2026) shows a Free plan for up to four users and a paid Pro plan priced per user. Pro team members get 500 SMS credits a month, with availability varying by country.

Pros:

• Free for up to four users.
• Easy to set up.
• Pro adds SMS reminders and a second reminder.

Cons:

• The Free plan sends one reminder only.
• Light on salon features such as consultation forms and stock.
• No marketplace.

Skip it if: you need detailed salon reporting or product sales.

How to choose the right Fresha alternative

Answer these four questions and most of the list falls away:

1. Where do your new clients come from? If it’s a marketplace, look at Vagaro or Booksy. If it’s Instagram, WhatsApp and referrals, a marketplace fee is money for nothing.
2. How do your clients pay? In Lagos or Accra, bank transfer and USSD matter as much as cards. In London or Toronto, a card reader at the desk matters more.
3. How many people take bookings? Per-staff pricing is fine for two stylists and painful for twelve. Do the sum for your team size.
4. Do you charge deposits? A deposit is the simplest way to cut no-show appointments. See how much deposit to charge for a quick way to set yours.

A quick worked example, with illustrative numbers: a salon with five stylists paying $26 per staff member a month pays $130 a month before card payments. A flat-price tool at $49 a month costs $81 less, but only if it has the features you’d otherwise pay add-ons for. Price the whole setup, not the first line.

If you’re still deciding what booking software should do for you, our roundup of the best booking software covers tools beyond beauty and wellness.

How to move from Fresha to another booking app

1. Export your client list. In Fresha, go to Clients, open the client list, click Options and export it as Excel or CSV, as Fresha’s help article (checked on 1 October 2026) explains. Card details can’t be exported.
2. Export your service menu and future appointments. Write down every service, price and duration, and list bookings already made for the coming weeks.
3. Set up the new tool before you switch. Add services, staff hours and your deposit rule, then make a test booking yourself.
4. Import clients. In startbuddi, that’s Customers → Contacts → Import, up to 10,000 contacts at a time from a CSV.
5. Change every booking link. Instagram bio, Google Business Profile, WhatsApp Business profile and your website.
6. Tell your clients. Send one short message with the new link, and honour existing bookings in the old system until they’ve passed.
7. Cancel Fresha last, once the new link has taken bookings for a week or two.

How to run your salon bookings in startbuddi

1. In Bookings, open Services and click Create Service. Add the name, duration, colour and stylist.
2. Open the service, set the price and turn on Require payment to book with a deposit amount.
3. In Availability, set working hours, a buffer after each appointment and how far ahead clients can book.
4. Connect Paystack or Stripe so clients can pay when they book.
5. From Overview, click Share booking link and post it on WhatsApp and Instagram.

For a wider view of running the business side, read our guide on how to run a salon business and these tips to reduce no-show appointments. See how startbuddi works as appointment scheduling software.

Try startbuddi for your salon

Set up your services, take deposits and share one booking link, free. Start with startbuddi’s free plan and compare it side by side with the Fresha alternatives above.

Frequently asked questions